Wartune

 

Wartune and my thoughts aren’t on my character or the world around me. Instead, they’re centered on this: how on earth has a game like this existed for so long without drawing the ire of Blizzard Entertainment? Bullish humanoids in vaguely Native American-garb called “Taurens” stomp around menacing the countryside, and globules signifying your health and mana appear lifted pixel by pixel from the Diablo series. It’s a good thing that Wartune is kind of fun, or it’d be easy to dismiss it as a cheap knockoff of better titles.

I was giving Wartune a fair shake despite the over-sexualized characters, saccharine PvE gameplay and greedy pay-to-win system. The aesthetics actually have a decent appeal, especially to a gamer fond of 16-bit RPGs. The PvP would have been decently engaging if not for the ability to buy your way through it. World bosses are hardly that, as their durability responds to the speed with which it’s being killed (which only serves to make players put more time into the repetitive battles). The MMO elements exist, yet somehow deprive the player of that feeling of living in a fantastic world.

Wartune is a 2D browser-based MMORPG that combines elements of strategy games with classic RPG features to create a unique game experience. Play as one of three hero classes and experience a mix of city-building and turn-based RPG action with boss fights, PVP, and a personal progression system. With daily quests and events, players will have many things to keep them occupied. Wartune also features a unique Astral System that allows for more character customizations. It is one of the most successful browser-based games both in Asia and the West.

There are barely enough elements scraped together from other genres to pull together some poor excuse of a game. It’s not really an MMO, or an action RPG, and there’s not much strategy to be had. Same goes for any tactical or traditional RPG mechanics. But, hey, it’s a free browser game. I didn’t think I could complain too much.

Wartune styles itself as an MMORPG of sorts, and while it’s certainly no World of Warcraft or Guild Wars 2, it does a decent job of justifying the moniker for a lightweight browser game on Facebook (or off). Dungeons and the occasional world boss spice up the core experience, and talent trees and visually impressive skills pepper the leveling journey. Still, déjà vu seeps through every crack and corner of the gameplay. Explore the world maps, bringing light to the shadows as you move along, and you’ll feel as though you’re questing through Warcraft III. Engage in the largely automatic turn-based battles, and you’ll pick up a whiff of Final Fantasy’s scent, revealing itself even in number popups that recall those in Final Fantasy XIII. Jump into the city building strategy elements and, well, you’ll feel as though you’re rehashing every take on the formula from Civilization to Kabam’s horde of strategy lookalikes.

Then I saw the advertisements, suggesting that the game has an Adults Only (AO) rating from the ESRB, which it does not. Wartune has not been given any rating, and would still only likely wind up at a T for Teen. The ads would receive a worse rating that the actual content in-game. This was done solely for the purpose of attracting horny teenage boys. What this says is that the game itself is not a sufficient attraction, and must rely almost entirely on sex to sell those microtransactions.

Wartune does a decent job of capturing the thrills of Diablo/Torchlight style exploration, and the frequent battles are enjoyable to watch even though they limit you to controlling your hero rather than your surrounding troops. It’s also fun to look at, though a little on the racy side. Earlier this year, ads for Wartune plastered gaming sites and played it up as some form of sexpot MMO that you might find box copies for in adult novelty stores. In truth, it’s not as bad as all that, at least judging from what I saw. Just be prepared for armor upgrades that strip female avatars down to strips of cloth that make Princess Leia’s prisoner getup from The Return of the Jedi seem like an Inuit parka but minutes in.

The actual combat’s easy to pick up (largely because so much of it is automated and dependent on gear); it’s the minutiae of the gameplay itself that beg for explanation. As early as the first dungeon, messages pop up warning you that you’re running out of troops, although there’s little obvious correlation between the hundreds of rangers you allegedly have at your command and the two scantily clad archers lobbing arrows beside you on the screen. It’s also brutal on the pocketbook if you want to compete in what passes for the endgame, leading to countless absurd stories of the top players on the game’s many servers dishing out hundreds of dollars just to stay on top.

A worse crime is the fact that much of the content in Wartune has been directly, unabashedly stolen from other RPGs, including The Last Remnant, Everquest and Ys. Such is the state of copyright in China, where Wartune originates. Here is a tune from the OST for Ys 7, an original and well received JRPG. Here is the same exact song, with no attempt to hide infringement, showcased in Wartune. This serves as a great example of the lower levels game development can sink to.

The most unfortunate element of the game, among many, is the tired sexualization of every character. Not to say that they would be very deep or complex otherwise; what little story exists in the world of Wartune has about as much originality as the soundtrack. The narrative, along with nearly every other element of the game, is barely one-dimensional. The entire aesthetic is simply a ploy to get hits and hopefully microtransactions from the lascivious banner ads. I’ve seen more subtlety and respect in porn ads. Wartune is bad, and I truly, deeply hope that the developers feel bad. It is a shame that Wartune exists.

It isn’t even an issue of subjection of women in games, of respect for the audience, of even simple copyright infringement. These lines are all crossed proudly by Wartune, but what is much worse is the ham-fisted, overbearing approach the entire package takes. They quite literally suggest that you will get laid playing this game.

And so it’s worth bringing up that previous point again: if you’re going to slap that kind of money around on a game, do it on the games – the ultimately cheaper, better games – that Wartune draws so heavily on. That said, if you’re just looking for a fantasy action RPG to fill your lunch breaks, Wartune does the trick just fine – even admirably. Just don’t treat it as anything more than a derivative time waster.

There is no discernible method to each battle, except for the rather maddening randomness. Exactly the wrong aspects of Wartune have been randomized. Randomly selected content needs to apply to environment, gear, experiences, instances, geography, enemies; these things provide great replay value, new experiences and consistently fresh challenges. Not combat. This removes any possibility for strategy, forethought or involvement. You can choose spells to cast; but not where to cast them.

To call Wartune 'Diablo-like' would be a complete misrepresentation. However, the influence of the greater in both GUI and basic movement is clear. In fact, there is so little substance to the gameplay that it barely warrants discussion. What is there? Enter random battle (the encounters are not randomized, though the combat is). Level up. Upgrade your city. Wait (or pay). Bewbs. There. Wartune.

As I mentioned in my review of Game of Thrones: Ascent, another similar yet actually decent F2P social networking browser game, there is a very specific formula being followed here. Or rather, here is a failed attempt to follow guidelines that would otherwise result in an enjoyable if not original social gaming experience. The social gameplay characteristics laid out here (drawn up from Gothenburg University’s Staffan Björk’s GCO presentation on the subject) shine in many other games in this genre. Wartune simply assimilates these general guidelines into a horrifying hodgepodge, along with elements from many better games, and brands it with terribly offensive advertising.

Wartune Key Features:

    Mixed Genre of Strategy and RPG – browser-based empire building strategy game with turn based RPG elements.
    Three Playable Classes – Knights, Mages, and Archers. RPG component revolves around turn-based gameplay.
    Quests and Events – daily quests as well as regularly hosted events keep the game feeling fresh.
    Astral System – customize characters through combinations of astrals.
    Quick Time Even Combat System – place units in the front or back row and initiate attacks through a key typing system.